WATERLOO –
Residents of the Waterloo region are picking up the pieces after a strong windstorm hit southern Ontario on Saturday.
On Sunday, Environment Canada reported maximum wind speeds of 93 kilometers per hour in the region, causing trees to fall, hydraulic lines and power loss.
“It was horrible,” said Patricia Russell, shaken after a tree crashed through the roof of her neighbor’s townhouse. “We heard the loudest hit. It was like a big ‘buzz’ and it sounded like a big truck had hit something.”
Cambridge Fire Department (CFD) officials said no one was injured in the incident, but the home has been declared uninhabitable and inspectors will assess the structure on Monday.
Russell said the winds began to pick up around 3 p.m. and the sound was so terrifying that she and her mother stayed in the basement during the storm until 10 p.m. Saturday.
“[I] I could not sleep last night. It was, ‘Should we be upstairs?’ All those thoughts go through your mind, “Russell said.
In Waterloo, Bruce Campbell was enjoying a cup of tea with his wife when a tree fell in their garden along Laurel Street on Saturday afternoon.
“What it sounded like, I don’t know, thunder, a freight train, whatever. And then we connected the dots. It was a tree,” Campbell explained.
Campbell said the tree was about 90 feet tall with a 38-inch-diameter trunk, which also toppled a large maple in the fall.
The Waterloo Regional Police Service (WRPS) reported receiving multiple calls related to downed hydroelectric lines, downed trees and flying debris on Saturday. WRPS reported that at least one person was injured as a result of the storm’s activity.
Kitchener-Wilmot Hydro, North Waterloo Hydro and Energy-Plus reported that all outages have been resolved within their own service areas.
On its Twitter account, Hydro One reported that more than 115,000 customers are still without power as crews continue to assess the full extent of the storm damage and some may be left without power beyond Monday.
Reference-kitchener.ctvnews.ca